EAST LANSING — Ben Carter didn’t even log a minute of playing time Saturday night.

Inserted late in the second half with the Spartans clinging to a 2-point advantage, the sixth-year senior spent more time throwing his arms up in disbelief than making an impact on the outcome.

A pair of fouls were called on Carter on consecutive trips down the court. Purdue’s 7-foot-2, near 300-pound center, Isaac Haas, has a way of drawing contact in the paint.

Carter was summoned to the bench, only stopping briefly to receive an earful from an animated Tom Izzo.

His night was over.

During the final five minutes, Carter did what he always does. He cheered for his teammates and offered advice to anyone seated on a white foldout chair in his vicinity, mainly freshmen forwards Xavier Tillman and Jaren Jackson Jr. Sometimes even coaches.

But it was Carter — behind the scenes — who helped prepare this team for the Boilermakers' dynamic frontcourt. The Spartans' game plan depended on it.

Haas scored his points, netting a game-high 25, but that played right into Izzo's hands.

He wanted to limit Purdue’s outside looks, deciding not to double-team Haas and play one-on-one all around. It worked.

During the Spartans’ weekly pregame preparation, the 6-foot-9, 235-pound Carter attempted to play the part of Purdue big men, Haas and Vincent Edwards, on the scout team. Body-wise, he most resembles Edwards, but he did his homework on both.

Michigan State Spartans forward Ben Carter (13) fights for the ball with Duke Blue Devils forward Wendell Carter Jr. (34) during the first half at the United Center.(Photo: Dennis Wierzbicki/USA TODAY Sports)

He knew Edwards would come with the right hand. He knew Haas would back in for the jump hook.

They did.

Carter was quick to give his teammates praise inside a joyous postgame locker room. They were quick to dish it back.

“He’s not as athletic as he was when he was younger, but he plays the game with a high IQ,” Goins said, referring to a pair of season-ending left knee injuries that forced Carter to miss two full collegiate seasons, including last year, his first in East Lansing. “Him, sitting on the bench, giving us tips here and there, it’s invaluable.

“He definitely has a career ahead of him in coaching.”

Goins went 3-for-6 from the field, scoring six points, including the game-tying jumper with under a minute to go. More importantly, he held Edwards to just eight points on 3-for-11 shooting. Goins was only called for one foul on the night.

Junior guard Matt McQuaid finished 3-for-5 from beyond the arc Saturday night. Late in regulation, McQuaid “faked” as if he was going to double up on Haas and Edwards, forcing Purdue’s forwards to turn the ball over and hurry shots.

He worked on that during the week with Carter.

Ben Carter #13 of the Michigan State Spartans puts up a shot against Wendell Carter Jr #34 of the Duke Blue Devils during the State Farm Champions Classic at the United Center on November 14, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois.(Photo: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

“Ben is a very important piece to our team,” McQuaid said postgame inside the MSU locker room, smiling in Carter’s direction. “He is on scout team, and he is usually playing the (other team’s) best big. Sometimes, he even plays the three. He does a great job. He studies. He makes sure he knows what he is doing so that’s a big part of what we do.”

Carter never saw himself taking on the role of bench player, let alone a coaching figure.

He was highly recruited out of Las Vegas’ famed Bishop Gorman High School. He chose to play for the University of Oregon and spent his first two seasons in Eugene before transferring to his hometown school, UNLV. He started seven games for the Runnin’ Rebels and played in 22, averaging nearly nine points per game before suffering his first major knee injury.

He joined the program at MSU as a graduate transfer in 2016, joining a frontcourt that included Schilling, Goins and freshman Nick Ward. Playing time seemed to be in abundance.

Then, Carter’s left knee gave out on him again during the first official day of practice.

His MSU debut would have to wait. But his knowledge has been on full display since the day he signed on the dotted line.

“I owe a lot of my success to him,” Jackson said about Carter after the win over Purdue. “He is able to direct me and help me with plays. He’s been around the game a long time so he knows a lot and helps me when he’s on the court. He knows a lot about things. He just helps me a lot with terminology and things like that. He’s a good guy to have.”

Carter wants to play. He says his knee feels great. A sprained right ankle he sustained in late December is now “1000 percent healthy."

But he understands — and embraces — his new role. He knows there are only so many minutes to go around. And he is happy with any. The most important thing to him, he says, is winning.

“I understand things in a different way and see things in a different way because of things I’ve been through,” Carter said, pointing to injuries, coaching changes, and offensive schemes andphilosophies, among other things, during his career. “Any way I can help, I am more than willing to do so; being a coach on the sideline or helping on scout team. Any way I can help the team win, that’s what I am here for.”

Before the Purdue matchup, Carter had played sparingly in 17 games this season. He hasn’t started any. Heading into Saturday, he had shot the ball only 11 times, sinking six. He hadn’t left the bench in seven of the Spartans’ last 11 games to that point.

The only numbers Carter says he cares about are 25 and 3. That is MSU’s season record, the best start in school history.

Before tipoff Saturday, Carter went through his normal stretching routine with team trainers, the scowl on his face a window into his determination. He didn’t have the appearance of a guy who is the last big man to be called off the bench most nights.

He stared off into the crowd as he stretched out his bothersome left knee, stomach laying on the Spartan logo at midcourt. Next Tuesday night, he will take part in a team tradition, leaning down to kiss this very spot. It will be his final game inside this building.

These days, it’s the little things that mean the most to Carter. And he is savoring every second of his final run.

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Southern Utah coach Todd Simon, left, a Fowler native, talks with Ben Carter, a former player for him at UNLV, following a game against Michigan State, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017, in East Lansing, Mich.(Photo: Al Goldis/For the Lansing State Journal)

“I’ve learned, because of my injuries, not to take a single thing in life, especially the game I love, the game of basketball, for granted, because they were taken away from me before,” he said. “That’s difficult to take as a player when all you know is basketball. It’s really a privilege to lace them up every day and go through the pregame rituals, at this point in my career. That’s a blessing for me.”

Contact Cody Tucker at (517) 377-1070 or cjtucker@lsj.com and follow him on Twitter @CodyTucker_LSJ.